May 14, 2018 - 7:30pm
Hewlett Teaching Center
370 Serra Mall
Auditorium 201
Confirmed Speaker(s):
Sara Seager
Free and open to the public
Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science, Professor of Physics, and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Professor Sara Seager is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist. She has been a pioneer in the vast and unknown world of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun. Her ground-breaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. Now, dubbed an "astronomical Indiana Jones", she is on a quest after the field's holy grail, the discovery of a true Earth twin. Amongst many accolades, Professor Seager was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2015, is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow, was named in Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential in Space in 2012, and has Asteroid 9729 Seager named in her honor.
Bunyan Lecture Talk title and abstract:
Exoplanets and the Search for Habitable Worlds
For thousands of years people have wondered, “Are there planets like Earth?” “Are such planets common?” “Do any have signs of life?” Today astronomers are poised to answer these ancient questions, having recently found thousands of planets that orbit nearby Sun-like stars, called “exoplanets”. Professor Sara Seager will share the latest advances in this revolutionary field.